Campbell Brown promises Cats a torrid time

Nothing will intimidate Hawthorn before and during the AFL grand final, according to their hard-nut utility Campbell Brown.

He is promising defending premiers Geelong a torrid battle as the Hawks try to win their first flag since 1991.

“We’re not intimidated by anyone, we like to think we match up pretty well against Geelong,” he said.

“We’ve got to give them full respect, because they’ve lost one game for the year and they beat us, but we’ve earned a spot and anything can happen.

“It’s just got to be four quarters of absolute pressure and that’s all it’s going to be.

“It will be an arm wrestle and eventually the game will crack open, hopefully it’s us.”

Brown exemplifies the toughness and fierce attitude that the Hawks have built their team around.

It has occasionally cost him and several of his team-mates stints on the sidelines, courtesy of the tribunal system, but it is also the sort of attitude that wins premierships.

Brown said the toughness of the side was a deliberate policy and a by-product of the coaching staff.

“(Todd) Viney, Ross Smith, (Damien) Hardwick, Clarko (head coach Alastair Clarkson) - they were all tough,” he said.

“That’s the way we like to play and the guys who come in, we expect that from them - Brent Renouf, amazingly competitive, Xavier Ellis.”

While the Hawks’ attitude can sometimes cost them, it also leads to acts such as last night’s courageous effort from vice-captain Luke Hodge.

He was coughing up blood at quarter-time, but kept playing and will be available for the grand final.

“It sets a great example and to be honest, it doesn’t surprise me,” Brown said.

“I’ve played all my (AFL) career with Hodgey, we were in the same draft, and I see that kind of stuff week-in, week-out - he’s a super player.

“We’re trying to breed it tough, there are a lot of blokes here who are super-competitive and you just have to look at our leaders - (Sam) Mitchell and (Luke) Hodge.

“They set the example and it’s fantastic, the culture we’re creating here is you put your head over the footy and if you don’t, you’re not going to play.”

He admits that early in his AFL career, a premiership seemed a distant dream.

Brown made his AFL debut in 2002 with the Hawks and suffered through the tough days of 2004-05.

At the end of 2004, the Hawks attracted plenty of criticism for hiring a low-profile assistant, Alastair Clarkson, to take over.

“I’ve been watching them (grand finals) all my life and to be here, I probably didn’t expect it,” he said.

“We’ve really been through the hard times and for Clarko to come in and do what he’s done, it’s been magnificent.

“It’s taken a lot of people to get where we have, to rebuild, right from Jason Dunstall’s courageous decision to employ Clarko.

“We’re trying to be bold, we came out and said we want to win premierships, we don’t just want to play finals and be in the top four - we want premierships.

“Nothing is going to stop us until we get one.”

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